We’re almost a month into 2013 and so far I’m not very happy at how it’s gone.

I began the year unemployed, having been laid off two weeks before Christmas. On New Year’s Eve, after being sick for more than a week during the holiday, I finally went to the doctor to be told I had the flu. I got really sick after that. Finally over it, but I’ve been fighting sinus headaches ever since.

In addition, a good friend of mine from college was hospitalized with kidney disease. He will have to have dialysis for the rest of his life now. He’s one of the nicest people in the world and doesn’t deserve to go through this.

Tonight, I discovered that another good friend was told the lump she had removed from her breast is cancerous. They caught it early, but it’s still not something you want to hear.

This has been what I’ve dealt with so far this year. And it’s not even February.

There I admitted it. I do love them. I have been playing them for over 20 years now and I haven’t grown tired of them yet! I started this relationship with my first video game system, an Atari. It was amazing to 12 year old me. The graphics were shit but it opened a new world for me. I played games all the time. Back in those days, you could just turn down the volume to the game and listen to music while you played. I miss that! Then down the road, I boght a Commodore 64. That was just as cool to me. I loved the games, even though they were nothing compared to the ones today, there was still a charm to them.

These days, well it is a little different. The games are more complex, the graphics just blow you away and there is so much choice out there. It is hard to decide what is the right game to play. They are not cheap either. 60 bucks for your standard 360 and PS3 game. So I decided to start up a little review segment here on the blog. It will cover the games I am playing and the games I have played. Just to give you and idea on what I like and what I think yo guys out there in cyberspace might like as well.

I’m a 42 year old man who loves cartoons. There, I said it. I think that animation is an important art form and is vital for some stories. There are some things that just cannot be conveyed in a live-action medium. The mind simply cannot accept something so realistic and yet so artificial at the same time. Enter animation.

Here are a few series and movies that I thing are worth your attention. This will range from the silly to the dramatic, so hang on!

1) The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi
This is a very interesting show about a time-travaler, an alien, an esper, a normal boy, and, for lack of a better term– a god. The god (well… goddess, really) character is looking for something extraordinary in her life. Something like the existence of espers, aliens, and time-travelers. Everyone but the boy has been sent to observe the goddess (Suzumiya Haruhi). The boy (Kyon) knows everything, Suzumiya knows nothing about the true natures of the others, believing them to all be fellow students. Here is the story of 4 very special people and a normal boy with a dry wit trying to cope with it all.

2) Utawarerumono
Wow, this is a really good dramatic fantasy piece. A man with no name and no past awakes to find himself in the care of a kind woman he does not know. He wears a mask that neither he nor anyone else can remove. All the people around him are anthropomorphic animals. The setting appears to be in feudal times. This world has magic, demons, corrupt emperors, and a shocking secret. This man works with the villagers who have saved him and together, they share a chequered life.

3) RahXephon
Pronounced Rah-Ze-Fon. How to describe it? In short, it’s like Neon Genesis Evangelion, but easier to understand. The “Angel” characters designs are all based on ancient idols and fetishes. It makes for a visually stunning piece of work. Also, it’s very dramatic with great acting (from the original Japanese actors) and lush characters. Check it out! You’ll be glad you did.

4) Read or Die
It’s the library secret service. Just watch the opening below. It’s an adventure series about a paper-user, a woman who can phase through solid objects (think Kitty Pryde, but sexy and deadly) and a commando.

5) Summer Wars
This is a title I was hoping would get an Oscar nomination. It’s a fun movie with good characters that you can emote and root for. A math whiz gets roped into playing the fiancée of a popular girl in school. He has to meet her family and pretend to fulfil the girls need to please her elderly grandmother. Hilarity and adventure ensue when a rogue AI program assimilates the main global online social network (which also controls much of the real serivces and technology of their lives) and tries to kill the entire family.

That could never happen, could it, Facebook? 😉

Well, there’s a lot more. But I’m going to save them for future posts. So give these a try. You might be pleasantly surprised.

For your perusal, here is Show #4 of our podcast, in which we discuss current events, (namely the bizarre Manti T’eo hoax, that asshole Lance Armstrong, and doping in sports). And we throw comic books in for good measure.